World Day Against Child Labor observed globally
KUWAIT CITY, June 13: The World Day Against Child Labor, which falls on June 12 every year since its inception in 2002, was observed globally yesterday.
According to a press release, this day was declared by the International Labor Organization to draw attention to the widespread phenomenon of child labor around the world and to exert necessary efforts to eradicate this phenomenon.
Each year, attention is given to a specific aspect of this phenomenon. The theme for this year is “protecting children from labor even in times of conflicts and disasters”.
The Kuwait Human Rights Society explained that this year’s theme was chosen because of the conflicts and disasters witnessed in the region which led to economic crises that pushed children into taking up labor in order to fork out a living. This is considered as a violation of children’s rights and exposure of their lives to danger.
According to the United Nations, more than 1.5 billion people in conflictridden nations are subjected to poverty and 200 million people are affected by disasters. One-third of these people are children.
Children mostly are the victims due to destruction of schools and lack of basic services. They are the weakest category exposed to human trafficking and exploitation in labor.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to combat the phenomenon of child labor in conflict-and-disaster-ridden areas.
The seventh objective from the sustainable development objectives stipulates that immediate and effective measures should be taken to eradicate child labor in all its forms by 2030.